Recently, Naza threw a year end party for its customers at the Auto Mall in Petaling Jaya, inviting 46 beauties from the Miss Tourism International 2009 to grace the occasion. I can write a thousand word story and tell you all about it, but I suspect you’re more interested to SEE what went on. So, here goes…

(Click on thumbnail for larger pictures)

KON

Recently, a fleet of 100 supercars were parked outside Starhill Gallery, KL, for the A Journey Through Time III exhibition of luxury watches and jewelleries. We bring you the official photos from the organizers.

A Journey Through Time III… in the busy streets of KL.

Interesting paint scheme for the GT-R

An endless line of supercars …

Kon’s favourite car name – the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

We wonder if that’s its real plate, or a decorative one.

Porsche lurks behind the F355

Matt black GT-R. That’s cool.

The cam whores were having a field day too…

Recently, BusinessWeek and leading brand consultancy firm Interbrand published their annual Best Global Brands list ranking the world’s top 100 trade marks. For the ninth successive year, Coca-Cola has been ranked the world’s top brand, with IBM, Microsoft, and GE trailing in its wake. The biggest growths were made by Google, Amazon, and Zara, with their brand values increasing by 25%, 22%, and 14% respectively. Not every one had it good though. Notable names such as Merrill Lynch, AIG, and ING were even wiped out from the list altogether.

The world’s most valuable brand.

Perhaps due to the current climate of economic uncertainty, the overall value of the top 100 brands has declined by 4.6% compared to 2008. Brands in the food industry, such as McD, Kellogg’s, and Nestle, registered growth, whereas banks and automakers were hit the worst. You know the news is bad when Hyundai prides itself for having the lowest decline in brand value at 5%. Ferrari registered 0% decline, but everyone else’s brand value took a hit, averaging a 7.4% decline.

The least declining auto brand

Toyota continues to top the list among auto manufacturers, sitting at 8th place with a brand value of US$31b, declining by 8% from 2008. German giants Mercedes-Benz and BMW follow closely at 12th and 15th placing. Toyota’s arch-rivals, Honda, sit three places below the propellor badge at 18th place, with a brand value of US$17.8b.

Still the world’s top auto brand.

American giants Ford, more than US$10b less valuable a brand than Honda, is the 5th biggest auto brand at 49th place. Volkswagen and its subsidiary, Audi, are seperated by ten places at 55th and 65th spots respectively. At 69th place is Hyundai, at US$4.6b, is a more valuable brand than Porsche, Ferrari, and Lexus. Hyundai debuted in this ranking list in 2005 at 84th place, and has been making steady annual growth since then.

“Thanks to eye-catching products like Genesis and the innovative marketing such as the Assurance program, Hyundai is making a big splash in the world market,“ Interbrand said.

Products like the Genesis has helped raise Hyundai’s profile.

BusinessWeek’s “Best Global Brands” special report is featured in the September 28, 2009 issue, on newsstands Friday, September 18th. Expanded content, including full (more) methodology, is available on BusinessWeek.com at www.businessweek.com/go/brand and on Interbrand.com at http://www.thebestglobalbrands.com.

KON

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The Super GT Round 4 in Sepang International Circuit today started off with a wet practice session in the morning when the heavens decided to open up. This is good news for the spectators as it brought down the temperature a few degree Celsius. Unfortunately, the ‘normal’ SIC heat builts up again in the afternoon when the qualifying session starts.

The MOTUL AUTECH GT-R driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer set the fastest qualifying time for the GT500 class and Kazuki Hoshino and Masataka Yanagida set the fastest qualifying time in their S Road MOLA Z for the GT300 class.

Attach below are the full qualifying results.

Discuss more at the Super GT forum here.

BREAKAWAY FACTION: The Breakaway 8 discussing their move in light of Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley’s recent rule changes that they feel are unacceptable and stifle the sport

For the longest time, everyone , well nearly everyone has been complaining that Bernie Ecclestone has had a iron grip on F1 and he keeps tightening it every year.

Teams complain they don’t receive enough Tv and other commercial money from sponsorship of the championship while track owners complain that they have to fork out STG10 million to host a race.

So when the regulations wrangling got ugly this year, the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) decided enough was enough and raised their threat to form the breakaway series again but this time they appear to be genuine in carrying it out.

The eight teams that want to form the breakaway series are Ferrari, McLaren, Toyota, Renault, BMW, Brawn, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and they had a meeting at Renault’s HQ in Enstone and decided that they can no longer take whatever it is that Bernie and Max are dishing out.
Below is part of their Press Release

“The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship.

“These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.

“The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series.”

They are even initiating talks with Dorna’s Carmelo Ezpeleta to find out if his company can provide turnkey organisation for the new series. Dorna runs FIM’s MotoGP very successfully.

With only Williams staying on in F1 and no one can be sure that they adn other teams would not jump ship anytime soon so all fans are holding their breath to see how this problem will be solved.

Suffice to say FOTA’s suggestion will lower the costs for fans, track owners and maybe even sponsors but without restricting technological advances. FOTA is also keen to have more teams taking part.

I say dump Bernie and start fresh, if Bernie wants you guys back in, squeeze him for all he is worth, no sport should be such an exclusive domain of one person, no one should have so much say in a championship that involves thousands and are loved by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Good Luck FOTA

Best New Engine of the Year

The category of newcomer engines, which included two from BMW was won by Porsche with their new 3.8-litre naturally aspirated flat six. It is rated at an impressive 385bhp max power, but that was not the factor that clinched its award. What impressed the judges most was how Porsche also got the engine to sip less fuel than its predecessor.

According to Marc Noordeloos of Automobile magazine, “Leave it to Porsche to build a near-400bhp engine that returns such impressive fuel economy. Enthusiasts should take comfort in the fact that the naturally aspirated engine may not be dying after all.”

Porsche attributes the impressive economy of this engine to the fact that it uses direct injection, brought over from the Cayenne. That, and a 200cc increase in engine capacity saw the 3.8 gain a healthy 30bhp over the outgoing 3.6 but emit 15% less CO₂.

Green Engine of the Year

VW introduced the 1.4-litre twincharged EA111 engine back in 2006, but today the engine is still good enough to fend off challenges from Mercedes and BMW diesels in addition to hybrids from Honda and Ford.

The 1.3-litre IMA from  Honda pushed it real close, but ultimately lost out because of its massive power deficit in comparison to the TSI, which can be tuned to output as much as 178bhp.

FC and emission figures ultimately clinched it for the VW. When used in the Golf, the TSI emits 144 grams of CO₂ for every kilometre traveled and consumes 6.2 litres of petrol for every one hundred. The Insight betters both these figures, but falls way short of the TSI’s impressive power output.

Best Performance Engine

Taking the title of the Best Performance Engine is none other than the famous 6.2-litre V8 M156 of Mercedes-AMG, which powers everything currently slapped with the 63 AMG badge.

This naturally aspirated high-revver (7,200rpm redline) had to beat two BMW engines, and one each from Jaguar, Porsche and Ferrari to claim its prize.

Best Performance Engine: Mercedes-AMG M156 6.2 V8.

Sub 1-litre

The Sub 1-litre category is actually the best place for Japanese manufacturers to cari makan in these awards. As the Europeans tend to look at the bigger capacities, it leaves room for the Japanese to attack this segment unhindered.

Look no further, the only Japanese winner in this year’s award is here – Toyota’s 1.0-litre three-cylinder 1 KR-FE, which it also shares with the PSA Group. After narrowly winning this segment last year, the three-potter returned to trounce smart’s 799cc diesel into a distant second place.

Sub 1-litre: Toyota 1KR-FE

1-litre to 1.4-litre

The 1.0-1.4 segment sees a VW one-two finish, with two of its 1.4 TSI powerplants occupying the top two berths in this category. The very same engine that took home the Green Engine of the Year award, the EA111, now bags the 1.0-1.4 category as well.

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre

A piece of news that is certain to excite our 308 forummers in Autoworld, the turbocharged version BMW-PSA Prince 1.6-litre engine under their hoods havs won this segment for the third year running, comfortably beating the Toyota Prius 1.8-litre hybrid.

For this award, the version of the engine tested churned 175hp of power and 260Nm of torque, which is the specification level for the 308 GT and the Mini Cooper S.

Third place is taken by another engine that has also seen a reasonable amount of action in Malaysia, Audi’s 1.8-litre TFSI found in the likes of the A4, TT, Skoda Superb and VW Passat.

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre: BMW-PSA Prince

1.8-litre to 2.0-litre

Last year’s winner of the 1.8-2.0 category, Audi’s EA 113 2.0-litre TFSI engine, was finally deposed of its crown, ironically by its successor, the EA 888, another 2.0-litre TFSI engine available in power outputs ranging from 178 to 208bhp, and capable of up to 350Nm of torque.

The EA113, meanwhile, occupies third place, with the BMW N47 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel of the 123d sits between the two Audi powerplants at second. A special mention goes to Subaru for having its first diesel engine even nominated in the category.

1.8-litre to 2.0-litre: Audi EA888 2.0 TFSI

2.0-litre to 2.5-litre

Winning in the 2.0-2.5 category was the new 2.1-litre diesel from Mercedes-Benz introduced in the W212 E-class. Featuring twin-turbos, piezo-electric direct injection, Stuttgart’s latest oil-burner is available in three states of tune – 134bhp, 168bhp and 201bhp.

In second place is the 2.5-litre five-pot motor found in the Audi TT RS, recently previewed here in Autoworld Blog, capable of producing 340bhp and 450Nm. Also among the nominees, but finishing last, is the Honda 2.4-litre K24 engine, which in Malaysia’s market sees action in the Accord and Odyssey.

2.5-litre to 3.0-litre

Here is a category dominated by BMW for the past three years. Two time overall winner of the International Engine of the Year Award (in 2007 and 2008), the BMW N54B30 3.0-litre direct injection twin turbo engine continues to dominate this category for the third year running.

The N54 was BMW’s first turbocharged petrol engine since 1980, but it certainly was worth the wait. Lag free turbo response ensures a healthy 302bhp on tap with 400Nm of peak torque available pretty much all the time.

A distant second is another BMW 3.0-litre twin turbo engine, but a diesel powered variant, one that has seen action in the 335d, 535d, 635d, X3, X5 and X6, the M57. In the 35d state of tune, this engine outputs 282hp peak power and a whopping 580Nm of peak torque.

2.5-litre to 3.0-litre: NMW N54

3.0-litre to 4.0-litre

After being upstaged by the Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre monster in the Best Performance Engine category, the S65B40 4.0-litre V8 of the BMW M3 redeems some pride by comfortably beating two Porsche 3.8-litre flat six engines to take the 3-to-4 litre category.

Producing 414bhp at its 8,250rpm redline, the S65 replaces the highly successful S54B32 of the E46 M3. The S54 has left a tough act to follow, having walloped this category for no less than six times during its career. For the S65, this is its second victory in this category after winning it in 2008, ensuring BMW’s continued dominance in this segment.

3.0-litre to 4.0-litre: BMW S65B40

Above 4.0-litre

Mercedes and AMG reassume centerstage for the Above-4 category, with the 6.2 V8 M156 returning to shrug off challenges from two BMW powerplants, a Jag, a Cadillac, and a somewhat darkhorse in the form of a Lexus hybrid.

INTERNATIONAL ENGINE OF THE YEAR 2009

After deciding the respective categories, judges then form a shortlist from the winner of each category to ultimately decide the winner of the International Engine of the Year award.

For 2009, the tiny 1.4-litre EA111 TSI powerplant from Volkswagen took on defeated the mighty N54 from BMW, ending the Bavarians’ four-year monopoly of the top prize. It wasn’t easy for the little guy though, as the defending champion fought it all the way, in the end losing only by four judging points.

INTERNATIONAL ENGINE OF THE YEAR 2009: Volkswagen EA111

A Memorable Double Weekend for Mok

On form Mok Weng Sun made it a memorable weekend at the Sepang International Circuit as he sealed a double win in the GT3 Asia Round 2 which was part of the Asian Festival of Speed.

The Singaporean driving for Porsche Club Singapore Racing won Race 2 with a total time of 23:27.662s, 1.271s ahead of Team Machine’s Eddie Yau.

Coming in third was Malaysian Tunku Hammam Sulong who recorded a total time of 23:30.387s.

Mok showed his supremacy again by pulling out a lead even after the safety car came out to regroup the pack as SPS Racing’s Siu Tit Lung spun out.

“I did not change the setting of the car from Race 1’s win and in this round had a good start and had a good run throughout the race. However after the safety car was deployed I was ready for some competition from the back,” said Mok.

“I kept my head down and continued to push as hard as I could. Overall, I had a one pole position and two wins so it has definitely been a good weekend for me,” said Mok.

As for Yau the second place finish was the best he could manage as Mok was too fast to catch and Tunku Hammam kept pressing him.

“I had a really good start. I was close to Mok but Tunku Hammam kept the pressure up so I had to do whatever I could to stay second even after the safety car went in,” said the Hong Kong driver.

As for Tunku Hammam, the podium finish in Race 2 made his weekend worthwhile after a drive through penalty bogged down his hopes in Race 1.

“Today was definitely better than yesterday. After Turn 2 I was third and I pushed the car but not too much as I had to keep my tyres. After the safety car was deployed I tried hard to make it to second but I couldn’t and I also didn’t want to lose the third position.,” said Tunku Hammam.

“There have been a few mishaps this weekend but overall it was great and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” he added.

The full results and pictures from the race at the below gallery.

The Asian Festival of Speed in Sepang International Circuit today saw fellow Malaysian racers (Chin Tzer Jinn, Eric Yeo and Fahmo Ilyas) making their country proud by being on the podium of the Asian Touring Car Series and Formula BMW Asia Pacific. The podium finishes of the day as follows:-

GT3 Asia Challenge
1st – Mok Weng Sun of Porsche Club Singapore Racing
2nd – Sam Yau of  Team Machine
3rd – Siu Yuk Lung of Team SPS Racing

Asian Touring Car Series
1st – Chin Tzer Jinn
2nd – Eric Yeo
3rd – Cheung Chi Sing of Team IMSP – S&D

Formula V6 Asia
1st – Hamad Al Fardan of Dyna Ten Motorsports
2nd – Kevin Chen of Champ Motorsports
3rd – Ro Charlz of Dyna Ten Motorsports

Formula BMW Pacific – Race 1
1st – Axcil Jefferies of Eurasia Motorsport
2nd – Gary Thompson of E-Rain Racing
3rd Akhil Khushlani of E-Rain Racing

Formula BMW Pacific – Race 2
1st – Fahmo Ilyas of E-Rain Racing
2nd – Gary Thompson of E-Rain Racing
3rd – Rio Haryanto of Questnet Team Qi-Meritus

Full results for the Asian Touring Car Series, GT3 Asia Challenge, Formula V6 Asia and Formula BMW Pacific attached below.

The weather at Sepang International Circuit is at its usual level, i.e. scorching hot! Coupled with the unusually hot weather for the past few months, the ‘problem’ are compounded even further. Nevertheless, I braved the weather to bring you some snapshots of the race. Enjoy!

Ferrari Team Boss resigns from all company posts

Everyone knows that Ferrari’s tremendous success in the past decade was spearheaded by three powerful men in motorsports,

Michael Schumacher in the driving seat,

Ross Brawn in the engineering office and

Jean Todt keeping an eye on the target holding it all together as the manager.

So when Schumi decided to leave while on top, it was not really a shocker to see Brawn upchucking for new horizons. Todt stayed on with more responsibilities, more power and probably some time to catch up with girlfriend, bondgirl Michelle Yeoh. After all the team is already in winning mode and only needed to stay on track and it is nice to have a Ferrari for a company car.

Now that Brawn has come up trumps with Honda F1 and his cars are topping the early pre-season official tests, it is not too far a stretch to think that he may have called up his friend in Maranello to join him in the trenches, for old times’ sake. Motorsports guys are very sentimental and dyed in the wool type would think nothing of rejoining the fray, given half a chance. –(Malaysian Rally fans will attest to this, most competitors just a burn a whole in their pocket for a few glorious weekends in the mud and dirt)

I think that Todt and Brawn may get together again in the near future so keep an wyw on Schmi’s movements

Throughout my days as a car nut watching out for and attending various car events, I notice that these things have a natural tendency to come out together. It’s like there are magnets around certain dates which cause the manufacturers and dealers to pick them. A good example was the last weekend, where this writer attended no less than five events throughout the Klang Valley.

Among the five, is the Naza Carnival 2008 at the Naza Auto Mall along the Federal Highway. I usually don’t care much for showroom events organised by Naza Motors, because for all the glamorous machines they have on display, all you’ll ever do is just to look at the cars and do nothing more.

Carnival atmosphere here for two days.

The thing about me is this, as crazy as I am about cars, the idea of just seeing a car without driving it doesn’t excite me terribly – no matter how ’up there’ it is. As such, I usually give events without test drives a skip.

So, you’d probably understand that I did not go to the Naza Carnival 2008 on Sunday at Naza Auto Mall with bags of enthusiasm, even though there was a test drive for the Peugeot 407 available, part of the 407 Test Drive Me campaign, and a row of Kia test cars parked in front of the showroom.

Available for test drive.

My companion and I tested none of those. Instead, we went around looking, admiring and photographing the what everyone knows to be the largest collection of the finest and most exotic automobiles in the country. My personal guess is that the nett worth of their cars is probably worth, no, not a house, but a whole premier housing estate.

Each more expensive than an average house.

As we were walking, a young (and reasonably attractive) lady approached me to give me a little sticker, assuring me that it’s absolutely free, and then convincing me to part with forty one and a half of my ringgits for an RM36 Shell petrol card, a Shell James Bond Aston Martin DBS collector’s toy car and a total of RM60 worth of lubricant vouchers. It was a reasonable deal, if only for the lubricant vouchers, though I must admit that a male salesperson won’t stand half a chance sealing the deal.

Not long after handing over my cash to the lady, there was the cracking sound of a Ferrari V8 engine nearby. They were having a ‘Product Presentation’ session for the Ferrari F430. There was also another one for the 599 GTB Fiorano scheduled earlier, but I missed that one.

Presenting the F430 & 599 GTB Fiorano

And here’s my opinion on the ‘Product Presentation’: it was not up to scratch. The presenter was fumbling through his ‘cheat sheet’ stammering through words. It begs the question why an entity of Naza’s considerable resources did not spend more of it to train him better before going on stage.

However, that presentation, together with our up close encounters with the likes of the Nissan GT-R, the BMW M3, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, the Ferrari Enzo, the Maserati MC-12, and many others, faded into obscure memory for me and my companion as we came across something a lot more astonishing – at the Peugeot section!

Nissan GT-R

BMW M3

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

Ferrari Enzo – yours for RM6.68m

Oi, don’t touch la, cannot read ar?

Maserati MC-12

All the money went to the cars, leaving nothing for the plumbing.

Surprisingly, but by far, the best part of the show was here.

Believe it or not, on our way home, our thoughts were dominated by the humble Naza 206 Bestari. In all my years following the car industry, never before in my life, have I ever come across a deal that reads like this: RM0 downpayment, 0% interest for 12 years. Yes, that’s right.. 12 YEARS! The amount of time needed to raise kids, and we have a loan package that lasts that long and charges no interest.

Staring in disbelief, we scratched our heads at the incredulity of the deal and pressed the poor salesgirl serving us to reveal all the fine print. There was none. You pay an RM100 booking fee, you wait one week, you drive the car away – just like that. Then each month, for the next 144 months, you pay RM390 (M/T) or RM425(A/T) back to Naza Credit, you get yourself a brand new Naza 206 Bestari.

We pressed to ask if the offer was just 0% interest for the first one or two years, but the salesgirl firmly said 0% for 12 years – a claim verified by her colleague. Now, I am used to hearing all sorts of baseless claims from salespeople, but the black and white on the pamphlets are clear: 0% interest for 12 years – no fine print whatsoever.

Here’s the most astonishing thing: after adding up the total instalments of RM390 and RM425 respectively over 12 months times 12 years, we arrived at a figure LOWER than the advertised price. There was no indication how long this offer is going to last, but I’d recommend anyone shopping for a car to check this deal out. I am not recommending whether you buy it or you don’t, but this is too amazing not to even look at it.

Thinking of getting one?

Now, do you still recall the Ferraris, the M3 or the GT-R earlier in this post? Don’t worry, neither did I.